• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Bankwatch

  • About us
    • Our vision
    • Who we are
    • Donors & finances
    • Get involved
  • What we do
    • Campaign areas
      • Beyond fossil fuels
      • Rights, democracy and development
      • Finance and biodiversity
      • Funding the energy transformation
      • Cities for People
    • Institutions we monitor
      • European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
      • European Investment Bank
      • Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
      • Asian Development Bank (ADB)
      • EU funds
    • Our projects
    • Success stories
  • Publications
  • News
    • Blog posts
    • Press releases
    • Stories
    • Podcast
    • Us in the media
    • Videos
Home > Svaneti locations > Latali

Latali

Home   |   Places   |   People

Svaneti is my homeland

An initiative of Bankwatch.
Photos by Rosa Vroom.

Latali

Locals say the town has more churches than private houses. Either way, Latali’s architecture proves its historical importance.

Ten kilometres from the main square of downtown Mestia, Latali is still part of the Mestia community. A few steps away from the main stream of tourism to Mestia-Ushghuli, locals promote it proudly mouth-to-mouth:

‘We have more churches than private houses here’, ‘From here there is a path that leads you to the oldest settlement in Svaneti’, ‘Latali used to separate Free Svaneti from the occupied Svaneti’.

Even though local knowledge and scientific research always get mixed up in Svaneti, Latali’s architecture proves its historical importance.

People of Latali



Lela Tserediani

‘The existence of the towers depends on our humanity, dignity and wishes; on how we want to return our history and care for it.’

A woman looking into the camera is standing on a field with mountains in the background.

Margarita Pharjiani

“What can we do?! Life in Svaneti is not good, but we still love Svaneti and live here… whether we want or not.”

A young girl looking into the camera.

Barbara Udesiani

“There is a danger that something can happen to Svaneti. Too many dams are being built.”

Grandparents with their grandchild.

Mediko Stephliani

“We are orthodox Christians and we love old traditions. We don’t want to lose them.”

An old man right in front of the camera squinting in the sun.

Revaz Pharjiani

“After the war the country collapsed, nothing was working and I returned to the village.”

Impressions from Latali

Svaneti is threatened by massive hydropower developments

We are trying to prevent that and preserve the regions unique way of life.

Sign up to stay updated and to help the people of Svaneti.

Find out more about these hydropower projects





Footer

CEE Bankwatch Network gratefully acknowledges EU funding support.

The content of this website is the sole responsibility of CEE Bankwatch Network and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.

Unless otherwise noted, the content on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0 License

Your personal data collected on the website is governed by the present Privacy Policy.

Get in touch with us

  • Bluesky
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • YouTube